Summer Garden

Astrian

The Fae stretched, relaxing in the hammock. It was unusual that she'd have as much free time as this. Time enough to relax, and indulge in sleeping so late. She rarely had a chance to get up after the sun had risen.

She reached down out of the warmth of her hammock and into the cold breeze, grabbing the book quickly before darting her hand back inside. She sighed and pulled the hammock closed atop her. It was getting too cold out there.

She looked at the book curiously. Most of the other Fae didn't understand why she would read, at all. Most of history was preserved in memories, copied from one to another. Dreamworlds created and controlled by magic were far more immersive than a book could ever threaten to be.

Yet, Astrian enjoyed the simplicity of it. It didn't take her any effort. No magic. It also helped with the other problem. The roar of Faen voices pouring through her skull like a hurricane. Her powers were limited, and not especially spectacular compared to the woman she served, but when it came to mental magics, she was a savant.

She couldn't block out the voices. She didn't know how. She didn't have the skill for that. All she could do was narrow her focus, like picking out one voice in a crowded room. She could every voice in the realm. The thoughts and swaying emotions of her extremely turbulent people. A Fae would never hide from their emotions, and they certainly wouldn't stop themselves from speaking their minds, but their minds were engulfed with their feelings, hopes and desires.

Astrian rubbed her temple and thumbed open the book to the leaf marking the page, and began to reacquaint herself with the tired and quiet world the writer had imagined. It was a dull place. Halfway through the tale and nothing at all had happened. The writer had established his characters, and they played off against each other quietly, creating humour and mirth, without conflict or terror.

She snuggled into her blanket, smiling to herself quietly.

"Wake up, princess!"

Astrian groaned, grabbing her head as the voices came flooding back, and opened the hammock slowly, glaring at the silver-haired figure standing over her. "What do you want? It's my first day off in three hundred years."

The silver-haired demon cocked her hip, planting her hand on it, "Oh come off it, Astrian. Don't try and hardball me. We both know Summer is nuts. None of this is going to end well if she tries to do it all on her own. Janus will just get the excuse he needs to take the crown."

Astrian rolled her eyes, turning back to her book, "Fix it yourself."

"Do you want me to pull rank on you, little Faeling?"

Astrian closed the book, and swung her legs over the edge of the hammock, standing and curtsying, "Apologies, princess."

The woman winced, "Sorry."

"I am here to serve, as always." Astrian replied with another curtsy, "I have served Lady Summer all my life. Do you believe this ghoul poses a threat to her safety?"

"No." She replied with frustration.

"To her happiness?"

"Again, no."

Astrian shrugged, "Then by what right do I, simple servant than I am, have to interfere in the affairs of my mistress? Lady Luna?"

Luna shrugged, "I just don't want this all to go to crap. Summer just talked to me. She's worried, and I am as well."

Astrian paused, blinking at the flickering of images. "What was that? Lady Luna. You have seen the creature. What was it?"

Luna smiled, "Never could hide my thoughts from you. A vision. Well, several. Every night for the last three months. The ghoul comes, Summer falls for him. War breaks out. Summer, fighting, wings burning... A Fae child I don't recognise. I see both of us, I see Janus, and his assassins. I see Hero, and Tyr. I see an elf, and a human mortal. I don't... There is no flow to this, Lady Astrian. I'm no prophet. Just a jumbled mess."

Astrian smiled and held out her hand, "Let me see, please, Lady Luna. Allow me to see what you see."

The world swarmed away from her in a brilliant splash of colour.

Astrian watched, curiously as an elf stood in front of her, brandishing a spear made from their eternal tree. The elf was kneeling beside the ghoul. He didn't appear to be as she knew he should be. As if he had learned to heal his body, a magical trait that few could learn to master.

The elf smiled at him, "Tragedy is one of the lasting themes of the history of Elfkind. We are accustomed to pain, and loss. I have buried three husbands, and ten grandchildren, mortal. I have known love, triumph, and death. That is the way of our people. We do not have the taboos that Fae have against our mingling with your kind... But the heartbreak is inevitable. We know that you will die. It is nice, for a time. But it cannot last. We know it, as we always have."

The man winced, "I'm sorry."

Lady Summer appeared in the centre of her vision, blushing and looking away, "I'm sorry, okay?"

Astrian turned, looking at the mortal lying on the ground of the Lady's house, and up at her, "They're making you marry me? That... Doesn't make sense to me. It's not like I got you pregnant."

"Geeze!" Summer exploded, launching to her feet and starting to pace, "Look, can't you just be happy you're alive? I'm the one who has to marry an undead ghoul who can't even walk!"

"Oh shoot. Sorry, Astrian." The man said.

She spun, staring at him in shock, and then relaxed. He was speaking to another version of her. Astrian winced. Despite being silent, this other version of herself... The aura was unmistakable. She was weeping inside. What could a mortal have said that could so move her? She cared little for their kind.

"Astrian. It's okay. You don't need to hide those feelings. We're all in this together."

She turned, looking at her ladyship. What had Lady Summer just said? That didn't... Make any sense. What feelings? What could Astrian possibly feel that she would feel ashamed of hiding it from an undead beast?

The ghoul in front of her burst out, "I know. I'm sorry, Luna. I'm sorry I exist."

Astrian spun to look at Luna, the vision was already changing, accelerating. Trying to show her the future that was coming. The future that would be. That must be.

The elf slapped Lady Luna, hard. Luna hit the ground on her knees as her forehead hit the ground with a solid and rather painful thwack. She grabbed her head with both hands and kicked rapidly, waiting for the pain to subside. The Fae breathed heavily, "I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry I fucking killed everyone of you stupid little ageless ur'kan. I'm sorry that none of you gave me an ashen choice!"

"Yes." Lady Luna nodded, "Claven here, is red magic. The elf is... Elfin magic. A mix of blue and green."

Astrian turned, looking at Madam Claven sitting on the couch, surprised. She was a minor dignitary. A historian who had never amounted to much. She wasn't aware that any of them had a relationship strong enough that Claven might one day be invited to sit on Lady Summer's couch.

A ball of flame hit her, and Astrian struggled to scream as the flames engulfed her. She stepped to the side, breathing hard and trying to maintain the connection to Lady Luna, to keep the vision intact. She frowned, looking in surprise at the burned and charred figure lying on the rough road beneath her. It was the ghoul. This was his death.

She looked up, and saw the one who had killed him. A young figure, though misleadingly so. Her aura was not that of a normal mortal. She was a mage, and a powerful one. She was staring at horror at her handiwork.

Astrian watched in surprise as the figure approached, and then fell next to his body, crying openly. None of the other mortals dared to approach, most hiding or retreating indoors. The mage clenched both her fists and ground her teeth, "I will bring you back, Trei. I swear it. I won't give up. I won't lose you."

The mage sat next to her, crying silently. The heart in her hand was slowing, but still beating.

Astrian took a step back in horror, recognising the cave she now found herself in. This was Lady Summer's favourite place, a hidden cave in her garden. She'd endlessly remade it, over and over, until she thought it was perfect.

Nearby, the ghoul was gasping, bleeding and dying, a spear through his chest. His life was bleeding away. It was a spear of Yggdrasil. His magic was blocked. He couldn't restore his life if he wanted to. One hand on the spear, the elf stood, watching the scene, silently, but not unemotionally. She was fighting back tears, and her mind was a race of desperate thoughts, wanting to save the ghoul... And Lady Summer.

Astrian turned, desperately trying to see the face of the body the mage had been crouched over, but the scene had changed already.

She could see herself, quietly watching the ghoul in the garden. Her outward appearance was quiet, but inwards -

Astrian kept her outwards appearance cold, calm and in control as she looked at the ghoul sitting in the garden. Inside, she was anything but. Even now, when he was silent, unmoving, something inside her purred like a hungry cat. Craving his attention, his touch. She wanted to fall at his feet, and beg him to look at her. She fought the impulse. This did not belong to her. It was a curse, handed down by the fates. He belonged to her mistress, not to her.

That thought sparked all sorts of violent ideas.

"Break the link!" Lady Luna screamed inside her skull, and Astrian felt the world slipping away from her.